- The source of the phrase "Shed crocodile's tears" is a legend from ancient Egypt. And it was the Romans who brought this legend back to Europe during their domination in the mid-Mediterranean.
A youtube video to explain "Larmes de crocodile"
Citations
Tears, crocodile tears, There are no rivers to welcome them.
Indeed this quote is present in all the languages of Western Europe ("Lagrime di coccodrillo", in Italian; "lagrimas de cocodrilo", in **Spanish **and in Portuguese; "krokodil tränen", in German; "krokodille traanen", in Dutch; "crocodile tears", in English).
Crocodiles are very big eaters! In just one meal, they are able to swallow 25% of their weight. After this meal, a small storm raged inside their bodies. To cope, crocodiles need as much digestive juice as possible, which they make from the "dirty" blood, laden with waste and carbon dioxide, which they will divert from their lungs into their stomachs to digest. It's this somewhat complex digestion cycle that makes them famous professional mourners.